Rumor Mill
by Festival
Summary: Fame isn't easy. The cast has to learn to deal with life in the spotlight. Post-series, multiple pairings and characters.


A/N: Yay! Thank you for being interested enough to click on this story! Hopefully I'll be able to maintain your interest :D I'm planning on this being a multi-chapter fic, with multiple pairings and hopeful cameos from characters who didn't make the description. Let me know what you would like to see!

X

She was on the cover of a magazine.

It wasn't a bad shot, really—they had at least caught her with her makeup on and her clothes well-pressed, and the wind catching at her hair even managed to make her look a little dramatic—but the idea of thousands of people looking at her as they passed by the newsstand peddling newspapers and magazines, perhaps even buying a copy and taking it home to scrutinize further, made her feel a little weak at the knees.

It wasn't entirely unexpected, of course. She was the sister of a pop star who was rather hot right now, and dating a pro duelist, and once the tabloids had made the connection they had started to feature her too, caught in the crosshairs of fame. It was little things at first—a picture of her and Ryo out at dinner, captioned with something like _Pro duelist Marufuji Ryo grabs a bite with his paramour Tenjouin Asuka (Yes, Tenjouin! Singing sensation Fubuki is her older brother!)—_but in some way she couldn't quite understand, the public liked her. The public was _interested_ in her. Before she knew it, she was famous for, in her own opinion, doing absolutely nothing.

Still, magazine covers. That was new.

She pulled the issue off the shelf between two fingers, delicately, like it was a wild animal that could lash out and bite her instead of a few pieces of paper. _Asuka's big news!_ the cover proclaimed in bright block letters. Wryly, she wondered just what her big news was _this_ time. She flipped open to the table of contents, hoping to find out and get it over with, when the man at the cash register shook his head at her.

"No reading the magazines," he said, squinting disapprovingly from underneath his bushy white eyebrows. "If you want to read it so bad, you've got to pony up."

He nodded towards the register, and she sighed. She really had no interest in the magazine besides finding out what they were saying about her, but she had no choice; she dug out her wallet and bought the magazine, stuffing it quickly into her bag so no wandering eyes would make the connection between her and the girl on the cover.

She had a bit of time to kill, so she made her way to a streetcorner cafe she was rather fond of. It sat on the edge of a busy intersection, and as a result it was usually bustling and noisy. Normally these weren't qualities one would look for in a dining establishment, but she had found that the sleepy, quiet restaurants were the ones where she was most likely to be recognized and put on the spot. A couple of girls had asked for her autograph once.

She had been _mortified_.

She ordered a coffee and croissant to nibble on from the waiter—stocky and middleaged, not that type to read gossip magazines—and then, bracing herself, pulled out the magazine to see what was apparently so important about her life lately.

_Marufuji Asuka? _the tagline asked, and she sighed a little. So it was engagement this time. She had been subject to all sorts of speculation, from torrid affairs to dark secrets to steamy tales about her alleged sex life that made her blush just to read. She wasn't sure who on Earth found her interesting enough to make up such ridiculous rumors, but apparently the market was there.

The article itself delivered just as it promised. _According to Mill Magazine's exclusive source, _it began, _Marufuji Ryo is ready to propose to longtime girlfriend, schoolteacher Tenjouin Asuka._

She was shaking her head already, caught between amusement and consternation. Ryo considered very few people close, and even among them he was hardly the type to share his secrets so haphazardly. Even if he _was_ planning on proposing, he would hardly want to spread it around until he was ready. His trust was hard-earned. Sho-kun was the only one she could possibly see him confiding in, but she couldn't imagine him turning around and spilling his brother's secrets to some reporter. Even now that he was garnering his own popularity, he avoided the press as best he could.

She continued on.

_The two of them were high school sweethearts _(wrong, she thought, they had never dated at Duel Academia, unless you counted one highly confused kiss on the eve of his graduation as a romance) _who continued dating long-distance while she earned her teaching credential in America._

Again, that was wrong: they had been in touch then, after his miraculous return to life, but it was hardly dating. They hadn't officially started going out until two years ago, when she returned to Japan to teach. It was hardly the ideal relationship, with her teaching at the remote Duel Academia, and him caught up by responsibilities on the mainland most of the time. They did their best, but still.

You would think before getting married, they would at least ensure that they could live in the same place.

X

Edo Phoenix wasn't used to waking up disoriented.

His mornings were so ordinary they had become ingrained: get up by 6:45, shower, brush his teeth, moisturize, then wait for his assistant to arrive with a freshly-pressed suit and a cup of coffee. It was so typical, so innate, that he didn't even need to set an alarm; his body would wake itself up. He took comfort in routine, after all.

This morning, though, was different.

When he opened his eyes blearily, it took him a moment to place himself. He was in... his bed, yes of course, where else would he be? But he felt groggy, something entirely unlike him, with a sullen headache sitting in the back of his skull. His first thought was that he was sick, but then he remembered the night before.

The party, the one for newly-baptized minor league duelists hoping to make a name for themselves. He hadn't been particularly interested, but Emeralda had insisted. And so he had gone and schmoozed and been as pleasant and perfect as any sponsor could have wanted.

Had he drank? Yes, he could vaguely remember a sparkling glass in his hand, and a smiling waiter refilling it, but what had been _in_ the blasted thing was a mystery to him. Clearly it had been much stronger than he had guessed.

He pulled himself up to a sitting position on the edge of the bed, wincing a little at the pain in his head; oh, yes, he was hungover. His bedsprings protested ever so slightly. That was when he heard the noise.

A moan—no, a grumble, really, the type someone makes when they're caught between sleep and wakefulness.

He leapt to his feet and whipped around (his headache giving him a nasty stab in exchange for that bit of sudden movement) and there it was, an stretch of white back in his bed.

She rolled over, probably in response to his startled cry, and blinked up at him sleepily. A tiny face. Dark blue hair mussed from sleep. Big brown eyes.

He recognized that face, and although it took him a moment, he had a name to go with it, too.

Saotome Rei.

X

A/N: I know this pairing is pretty out-of-the-blue, but I've been intrigued by the possibility for a while now. I have my reasons! Where it goes depends on how interested everyone is in it though. What do you think?

Slash fans, don't worry! In the future I'm planning on including Jurassicshipping and possibly Stormshipping. Judai may make an appearance yet, and if he does I'll do what I can about a bit of Spiritshipping too!

Also, this story is tentatively set six years after the end of the series. I'll do my best to get all the ages right, but there may be a bit of fudging going on :p It's pretty confusing.

I know it's pretty improbable for Asuka to get her teaching credential in four years, but hey, if Aki could become a practicing doctor in eight years in 5D's, I think it's safe to say higher-level education is a bit different in this world.


End file.
